


May I have a word?

by Havocmantis



Category: CrossCode (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Love Confessions, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24654499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Havocmantis/pseuds/Havocmantis
Summary: Lea learns the words to say something too important to be left to pantomime.(WARNING: Contains major spoilers for Crosscode. Do not read if you have not finished the game)
Relationships: Lea/Emilie
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

  
"I see you're still up," Sergey said, initiating a communication channel with Lea.  
"Wait!" She responded.  
"Ah, of course. How rude of me to interrupt," he said, as she began charging her SP attack.  
Suddenly, an igloo turret appeared around her, which she used to blast the remaining samurai bugs. "Lea!" She said triumphantly after ending her kill streak, clearly proud of her deadly handiwork.  
"As I was saying," Sergey said, "I see you're still up. Keeping your skills sharp for the next big content update?"  
"Why?" Lea asked, tenting her fingers and smiling smugly.  
"What's that supposed to mean? Do you have some secret, ulterior motive?" Sergey asked. Lea whistled innocently. Sergey chuckled. "Well, I suppose it's none of my business," he said, "Since you aren't bound by biological limitations, you shouldn't need sleep, but... there's still a lot about evotars that we don't understand. You are — for some intents and purposes — human, and humans need sleep."  
"Why?" Lea asked.  
"Because our bodies are outdated hardware running proprietary software riddled with bugs and legacy code." Sergey said.  
"Why?" Lea asked. Sergey sighed.  
"Because- no. You're just trying to annoy me and it's not going to work this time!" he said.  
"Why?" Lea asked.  
Sergey sighed again, but failed to hide his smile. "If you're this much of a nuisance now, I dread to think what you'd be capable of if you could talk," he said. She nodded, thought for a bit, then smiled mischievously. "Don't you dare-" "Why?"  
"ANYWAY!" Sergey said, "I'm just saying, remember to take a break every now and then. Even a normal program shouldn't be left running for too long, so it can't hurt to get some rest." Lea nodded. "Speaking of which," Sergey said, "I'm going to head to bed. See you later."

  
"Wait!" Lea shouted, waving her arms around to get his attention. "Oh? Is there something else you want to say?" Lea started thinking. "It's OK, take your time," Sergey said, "Er, I realize that may have sounded sarcastic, since I just said I'm going to bed, but if this is as important as you made it sound, bed can wait."  
Lea nodded. She closed her hand, pushing her fingers together, then put it over her throat. She then moved her hand up and away from her face while opening her hand.  
"Something coming out of your mouth? Throwing up?" Lea shook her head and repeated the gesture while saying "Hi". "Talking? You want to say something?" Sergey guessed.  
"Lea!" Lea nodded enthusiastically.  
"You want to be able to talk?" Sergey asked. Lea nodded slowly, as if he was only partially correct.  
"I want you to be able to talk, too," he said, "I'm working on it. But it's hard. It's more than just a speech software malfunction, it's a compatibility issue with the software that makes up your... whatever. I don't want to get too technical. But the point is that it's a completely different process from adding new words to your vocabulary, and-"  
"Wait!" Lea interjected.  
"Hm? Did I say something important?" Sergey asked.  
Lea nodded. "Hi. Lea. Bye. Why. How. Wait. Meet. Sorry. Thanks."  
"What? That's just all the words you can say- oh! You want me to add a new word to your vocabulary!"  
"Hi hi hi!" Lea said, nodding excitedly.  
"I think it would be a better use of my time to continue working on giving you free speech," Sergey said, "Unless you have something really important to say that can't wait."  
Lea nodded. "If you insist, I'll hear you out," Sergey said, "Although, if you can convey the word to me by pantomime, couldn't you just do that instead of saying the word?"  
Lea shook her head, then repeated the speaking gesture. "I suppose that's fair. It must be frustrating to have to play charades any time you want to get a point across. I'll see what I can do."  
Lea held up two fingers. "Two? I think that gesture is clear enough that you don't need a word for it." Sergey said.  
Lea shook her head. She pointed to her two fingers and then made the speaking gesture once again. "Wait... you want me to add two words?"  
Lea nodded, smiling. "Lea, that's... a tall order, to say the least," Sergey said, "You know I want to do everything I can to support you, but I don't know if that includes adding two more words to your vocabulary."  
Lea pouted. "Don't give me those puppy dog eyes, that's cheating!" He said. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "Fine. I can't make any promises, but I'll at least hear you out."  
"Hi!" Leah nodded, smiling. She held up one finger. "First word?" Sergey guessed.  
Lea nodded, then thought for a moment. She cupped her hands and held them together to make a heart shape. "Heart?" Sergey guessed.  
Lea shook her head. She put the heart over her chest, then moved it away from her. "Love." Sergey said.  
"Lea!" Lea nodded energetically. She then held up two fingers to indicate the second word, then started thinking. "Emilie."

  
Lea's jaw dropped. "How?! How how how how how how how?"  
Sergey chuckled. "You're really good at saying what you mean, even when you don't have the words for it. Even when you don't mean to say it at all."  
"Bye! Bye bye bye!" Lea said, flustered.  
"Relax," Sergey said, "I won't tease. There's nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve." He sighed. "Not to sound untrustworthy, but I really did not expect you to convince me to do this. But I can see how important this is to you, so... I'll do it. My bed will be there in the morning; tiredness is temporary, but love is eternal!'  
Lea teared up, smiling. "Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!"  
"Don't thank me just yet," Sergey said, "Save it for when I somehow manage to pull this off. And if there's anything else I can do to help you with this, let me know!" Lea whistled innocently. "I immediately regret saying that." Sergey said, "Fine. What else do you need?"  
Lea opened her inventory and selected the materials from the monsters she was killing, then opened her friends list and selected Emilie. "Oh, I see now!" Sergey said, "That's why you were so coy about why you were killing bug samurai earlier! You want to give her the drops as a gift! That's very thoughtful of you, Lea."  
"Lea!" She said, proudly.  
"But, due to the trade restrictions, it won't work unless she gives you something of similar value," he said, "Which kind of ruins the sweet gesture."  
"Thanks!" Lea said.  
"Huh? What are you thanking me for- wait, are you asking me to hack the system so you can give her a gift for free?" Sergey asked. Lea nodded and tented her fingers. "That's... fine. It should be possible, if I'm careful to avoid detection. But I'm doing this for love, not for you!"  
"Lea!" Lea said.  
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I suddenly have a very busy night ahead of me," Sergey said, "See you later!"  
"Bye!" 


	2. Chapter 2

"Meet!" Lea said.   
"Oh, right that was today, wasn't it?" Emilie asked. "I say, as if I haven't been dreading this day for weeks. You know, at this point I'm convinced that the devs have it out for me, personally. Why else would they release new equipment in preparation for the big final dungeon, only to have it require so many bug parts?"   
"Meet!" Lea insisted again.   
"Oh, right sorry. I'll be right there to complain to you in person. Well, I guess not really in person, but... you know what I mean." Within seconds, Emilie materialized at Lea's side. "The First Scholars' meeting room? I figured you'd already be at Sapphire Ridge. Not that I'm complaining. The longer we take to get there, the better. In fact, how about we just call this whole thing off and go do literally anything else instead?"   
Lea shook her head. "Meet!"   
"Yeah, yeah, I was just kidding," Emilie said, "I can do this. I thought I had gotten over my fear of bugs, but to tell the truth... I only have the courage to face them when I'm with you. And I've seen you at the Sapphire Ridge a lot recently, so I'm sure you already have all the materials you need, so... thanks for doing this for me. You're a good friend, Lea."   
"Thanks!" Lea said.   
"Well, I guess getting sappy can only buy me so much time," Emilie said, "Maybe if we make it into a competition, I'll be more pumped up than scared. How about the first to get 50 samurai shells wins?" Lea smiled smugly.   
"Oh? You're looking awfully confident for someone who's never beaten me in a race," Emilie said.   
"Lea!" Lea said.   
"You're right, that's just what I needed! I won't back down from anything if it means defending my title as undefeated champion! See you in Sapphire Ridge!"   
"Wait!" Lea said.   
"What is it?" Emilie asked, "I think I'm actually ready to face my fears this time! Hurry before I change my mind!"   
Lea made a trade offer.   
"Huh? You want to trade? But I don't have anything to give you."   
"Hi!" Lea said.   
"OK, I'm not really sure what's going on, but show me what ya got!" Emilie said, accepting the offer. "99 Samurai shells?" Emilie said in disbelief, "And 99 sharp splitters? AND 99 LAPIS LAZULIS?! That's... with these, I'd never have to kill another sun or moon beetle for the rest of my life! But, I don't have anything to offer, so I can't... huh? It says the trade is fair even though I haven't offered anything. Is this a glitch?"   
"As far as Instatainment knows, yes," Sergey said, suddenly appearing on the projector in the meeting room. "And if you want to keep the loot, I would recommend against telling them otherwise."   
"Wait a second... you're that guy from before!" Emilie said, "Back when there was that whole thing with... whatever that was. Honestly, I didn't really understand what was going on, except that Lea needed our help. Anyway, is this your doing?"   
"Who's to say?" Sergey said, cryptically, "I used to work at Instatainment, so it's possible that this _glitch_ is because of some bad code that I wrote." Emilie accepted the offer. "Thank you both so much!" She said.   
"No need to thank me," Sergey said, clearly appreciating her thanks, "I didn't do this for you, or even for Lea. I did it for-"   
"WAIT!!" Lea cut him off, staring daggers at him.   
"Ah, right. I'd better keep my mouth shut," Sergey said, "I wouldn't want all my hard work to be for nothing."   
"All your hard work?" Emilie asked, "Lea, what's he saying?" Lea pantomimed clearing her throat and took a deep breath.

"Lea. Love. Emilie."

Emilie gasped, her eyes wide in shock. "You... you said my name!" You said you love me!!" She said, more to herself than Lea. She began crying.   
"Now that I think about it, I really probably should have gone with 'loves' instead of 'love', huh." Sergey mused aloud.   
"Shut up, nerd man!" Emilie shouted, you're ruining the moment!   
"Emilie love Lea?" Lea asked, timidly.   
"Of course!" Emilie said, hugging Lea tight, "Of course I love you! I've always loved you! I just never thought you'd actually love me back!"   
"Lea love love Emilie!" Lea cried.   
"Emilie love love love Lea!" Emilie responded.   
"Lea love love love _love_ Emilie!" Lea said, defiantly.   
"Oh yeah?" Emilie let go of Lea and looked into her tear-stained eyes. "Well, Emilie love love _love love LOVE_ Lea!!"   
"Lea love love love love love love love love love love..."   
"Emilie love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love..."   
The two kept repeating the word "love" for several more minutes.   
"Well... I think I'd better leave," Sergey said.   
"... love love Lea. Oh, you're still here? That's kind of awkward."   
"I know!" Sergey said, "Hence my leaving."   
"...love love love love love love love love love..." Lea's "love" continued uninterrupted.   
"OK, you win. _This_ time!" Emilie said, "Huh?" When she turned back to Lea, she looked afraid and confused, even as she kept repeating the word "love".   
"Are you OK?" Emilie asked.   
"...love love love love love love love love love..." Lea shook her head.   
"I think I know what's going on," Sergey said, "She should be fine."   
" _Should_ be isn't good enough!" Emilie said, "What have you done to her?"   
"Me?" Sergey asked, "This is her doing! She just inputted the command to say 'love' too many times and now there's a backlog she has to get through. You know how when your printer doesn't work, so you keep pressing the print button, and then when it finally does work, it prints out way more copies than you need? It's kind of like that."   
"Huh. She must really love me, then." Emilie said, impressed. Lea nodded, as the loves droned on.   
"Anyway, before I leave, I just wanted to say that I didn't do this for you, or even for Lea. I did it for love." With that, he hung up.   
"Geez, what a dweeb." Emilie said, "Still... I'm glad he made this possible. Who knows how long it'd take me to catch on if you tried to tell me you love me any other way?" She said.   
Lea made a heart shape over her chest with her hands, then put it over Emilie's chest.   
"Huh. Actually, I think even I could have figured that one out. Still, it's nice to hear you say it out loud. And no matter how many times you do, I'll never get tired of it."   
Lea began tearing up all over again, her voice quivering as she kept saying "love". 

A few more minutes passed. "...love love love love love love love... Emilie."   
"Oh! You're done!" Emilie said, surprised, "Good. Because I've been waiting to do this!" She kissed Lea on the lips.   
"HFJSJDJSJ" Lea was so confused and excited that her speech malfunctioned, producing random sounds.   
"What the heck was that?" Emilie asked.   
"What?! How!?" Lea was just as surprised as Emilie. She shook her head dismissively. "Thanks!" Lea said, before kissing Emilie again.   
"Hah! You're very welcome!" Emilie said, "I can't believe I had my first kiss in Crossworlds... If anyone I told anyone I knew in real life, I'd never hear the end of it." Lea smiled smugly. "Still, I wouldn't have it any other way."   
Lea nodded. "Lea love Emilie!"   
"Yeah... So then, I guess, what _are_ we now? Are we dating? Wait a second... you _did_ mean that you love me romantically, right?" Emilie asked, starting to panic. Lea nodded, then kissed her again. "Oh, yeah, right, that was pretty clearly romantic. Sorry, I just don't want to misunderstand you again. So does this mean that we're girlfriends?"   
Lea thought about it for a bit. "Lea. Emilie. Love."   
"You're right," Emilie said, "As long as we're in love, we don't need to explain it to anyone else. We're still just Lea and Emilie. I like the sound of that."


End file.
